Donegal, Co. Donegal

Donegal Poor Law Union was formed on the 7th November 1840, and covered an area of 245 square miles. Its operation was overseen by an elected Board of Guardians, 18 in number, representing its 11 electoral divisions as listed below (figures in brackets indicate numbers of Guardians if more than one):

The population falling within the union at the 1831 census had been 32,928 with divisions ranging in size from Tawnhawully (population 1,076) to Mount Charles (6,133) and Donegal itself (4,764).

The new workhouse, built in 1841-2, was designed by George Wilkinson. It occupied a six-acre site at the west of Donegal and could accommodate 500 inmates. The cost of the building was £5,785 plus £910 for fixtures and fittings etc. It was declared fit for the admission of paupers on 15th September 1842, and admitted its first inmates eight months later on 21st May 1843. The workhouse location and layout are shown on the 1907 map below.

Donegal workhouse site, 1907.

The workhouse followed one of Wilkinson's standard designs, with a front block housing receiving rooms on the ground floor and a board-room on the first floor.

In 1895, Donegal was visited by a "commission" from the British Medical Journal investigating conditions in Irish workhouse infirmaries. Their report listed a number of deficiencies including a lack of nursing supervision at night, and the miserable conditions for those in the lunatic wards whose care was in the hands of a pauper. Further details are available in the full report.

After the creation of the Irish Free State in 1920, Donegal workhouse became Donegal District Hospital. Only the entrance block now survives.

Records

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